Connell Headlines Men's Basketball's CNE Postseason Honors
Jack Connell named CNE Scholar-Athlete of the Year, as well as an All-CNE Second Team member alongside Tyler Stewart; Nathan Brinkman named to CNE Community Service Team
BEVERLY, Mass. – Jack Connell of the Wentworth Institute of Technology men's basketball team highlighted the Leopards' honorees in the Conference of New England's postseason awards announcement Thursday afternoon. Connell was named the CNE Scholar-Athlete of the Year, marking the third straight year in which a Leopard has been awarded the prestigious honor.
Additionally, Tyler Stewart was named to the All-CNE Second Team alongside Connell. Connell claimed his third straight All-Conference Second Team accolade while Stewart was named a member of the squad after being named the conference's Co-Defensive Player of the Year and a member of the All-CCC (formerly Commonwealth Coast Conference) First Team a season ago. Nathan Brinkman was selected to represent the Black & Gold on the conference's inaugural Community Service Team.
Connell had arguably the best season of his career in 2024-2025, averaging 21.9 points per game (third in CNE) and dishing out 4.5 assists per game (fourth in CNE). The Computer Science major, holding a 3.69 cumulative grade point average, started all 26 of the Black & Gold's contests, draining 570 points and adding 79 rebounds and 118 assists. The senior drained a career-high 40 points against Wartburg in December, marking the second-most points all-time for a Leopard in a single outing.
This season, Connell climbed to third all-time in total points for a career (1,608) and became the program's all-time leader in three-pointers made (220). The guard wrapped his career with the third-highest all-time assist average per game (3.5) and fourth-highest all-time scoring average per game (16.4).
Stewart sat right behind Connell in the Leopards' scoring efforts, averaging 20.3 points per game (fifth in CNE) and leading the Black & Gold with 8.7 rebounds per game (second in CNE). The forward led the conference by a sizeable margin with his .665 field goal percentage. In 19 games this season, Stewart dropped 385 points, snagged 166 rebounds, and struck 37 blocks.
Following his four-year career, Stewart leads the Leopards all-time in field goal percentage (.646), offensive rebounds (305), and blocked shots (135). The senior finishes sixth all-time with 1,422 total points and second all-time in rebounds with 754.
Brinkman reps the Black & Gold on the CNE Community Service Team. The junior was instrumental in leading and fostering the relationships with Leopards' Team Impact teammate Graham, his brother Ben, and the rest of the Phillips family. Brinkman additionally helped organize off-campus extra-curricular activities with Graham and Ben and made sure the duo was involved with the team on gamedays.
After a slow start to the season, Wentworth finished strong with their 19th straight postseason appearance this winter, going 8-10 in CNE play.
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